3 Things To Know Today

Vintage movie countdown, illustration

Photo: Science Photo Library RF

1 Federal Agencies Are Telling Workers That Furloughs Are Coming With Shutdown

With the chances of avoiding a shutdown of the federal government appearing slim, government agencies have started preparing for a shutdown of services at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday morning. Top officials at governmental agencies started sending out official notices to their workforces yesterday notifying them how a shutdown will affect operations. While payments from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are classified as “mandatory” programs that won’t be interrupted, other agencies are looking at a reduction in services and possible furloughs for employees. Leaders in the Department of Veterans Affairs have told employees have been told much of their work will be paid for with money already passed by Congress, but 15,620 employees are at risk of being furloughed. As many as four million workers could lose their pay as a result of a shutdown, with about half of those being troops and personnel. House Republicans passed several funding bills last night, but those apparently have no chance of passage in the Senate. Not all of the bills up for a vote passed, though, with the bill to fund the Department of Agriculture failing with 27 Republicans voting against it.

2 House GOP's Impeachment Witnesses Say There's No Evidence President Biden Committed A Crime

The impending governmental shutdown wasn’t the only issue being discussed on Capitol Hill. The House Oversight Committee convened its first hearing in the GOP’s impeachment inquiry, hearing from a group of witnesses picked by Republicans, and it didn’t go exactly as some probably hoped. Witnesses testified that there was no evidence of a crime by President Joe Biden but did feel that an inquiry was justified. One of the expert witnesses, law professor Jonathan Turley said, “I do not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment,” and when asked by Rep. Ro Khanna where the evidence is lacking, Turley specified that the lack was on the issue of influence peddling and whether the president was aware of it. The ranking member of the committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, referred to the hearing as a “Seinfeld impeachment – an impeachment hearing about nothing.” He went on to say, “If the Republicans had a smoking gun or even a dripping water pistol, they would be presenting it today.” During the hearing, Democratic members of the committee had digital countdown timers on display showing how long Congress had left until a federal government shutdown.

3 IRS Demands Earnings From Ticket Resales Be Reported On Taxes

A lot of people have made a lot of money reselling tickets recently, with a ton of profits being made on Taylor Swift ticket resales alone. While that was good for them, they’re about to get a nasty surprise courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service. New rules mean that anyone who sold more than $600 worth of tickets on resale sites like StubHub or Ticketmaster will now get a 1099-K and have to report their profits as income. The 1099-K form deals with credit and debit card payments, gift cards, and third-party payment networks, and online marketplaces. While this new rule has been known for a while, it’s just now being realized that it applies to the massive amounts of money made on reselling tickets. If you think you can get around it, apps like Venmo have to report your income.


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